ESPN
College hoops' royalty leads Way-Too-Early Top 25 for 2017-18
Only 79 teams have cut down the nets at an NCAA tournament, and now this North Carolina team is one of them. How do the Tar Heels stack up to their predecessors?
This has always been the case, but never more than now. A year ago, the NCAA replaced a draconian draft deadline policy with a vastly more forgiving framework, one that allows players to declare, go through the combine, receive feedback and, provided they don't hire an agent, withdraw by May 24 and return to school, eligibility intact.
In the coming weeks, plenty will do just that. Plenty will leave. Others will transfer schools. Meanwhile, the remaining blue-chip recruits in the 2017 class -- including four of the ESPN 100's top 10, and six of the top 19 -- will announce where they'll play their ball next season. The point is, things could look drastically different by June. For now, though, here's our best guess -- our best, educated, way-way-way-too-early guess -- at how things might look come fall.
So, about those educated guesses.
A year ago, Duke's supremacy was a no-brainer bet: the best team in the country, a national-title favorite, a roster for the ages. Last April's Way-Too-Early No. 1 turned out to be none of those things, of course, proving for the 812,439th time that there are no sure things in college hoops -- especially seven months before the start of practice. The maxim feels especially true this time around. At least for the moment, finding next season's clear prospective No. 1 team feels much more difficult, if not outright impossible, or at least much more open to interpretation.
So, hey, let's go with ...
1. Kentucky Wildcats
You know the drill here: Coach John Calipari is presumably sending a bunch of talented dudes to the NBA (De'Aaron Fox, Malik Monk, Bam Adebayo) and replacing them with another bunch of talented dudes (five ESPN 100 prospects in ESPN's No. 1-ranked 2017 recruiting class, plus redshirt freshman Hamidou Diallo) hoping to join their pro-bound predecessors forthwith. Whether those newcomers have the same star power as the players they're replacing is up for debate, but if guard Isaiah Briscoe returns for another season and Wenyen Gabriel and Isaac Humphries ably take on bigger roles in the frontcourt, there's no reason Calipari can't mold up another national-title contender in the next 10 or so months. Broadly speaking, almost every top team will have a ton of turnover in 2017-18; why not settle on the one that thrives on turnover every spring?
For more on how the Wildcats will look in 2017-18, check out Kentucky's returning players and incoming recruits and ESPN RecruitingNation's class rankings.
2. North Carolina Tar Heels
After back-to-back Final Fours, the Tar Heels aren't going anywhere. Yes, they will lose key seniors yet again: Kennedy Meeks and Isaiah Hicks in the frontcourt; Nate Britt in the backcourt; plus ACC Player of the Year Justin Jackson, who seems all but guaranteed to turn pro after his junior season. But star guard Joel Berry II could return for a fourth year, as could forward Tony Bradley, and that's a big deal in and of itself. Bradley came off the bench as a freshman; he already is one of the best offensive rebounders in the country, and he might be a first-round pick, if he declares. Meanwhile, five-star shooting guard Jalek Felton will join a deep group already comprising a raft of ready talents. (Even Luke Maye, the "unlikely" hero of UNC's Elite Eight win over Kentucky, had proved his scoring chops all season.) There are a lot of ifs here and a lot of pieces to replace, but coach Roy Williams had a lot to replace after last year's Final Four too, and you saw how that worked out.
For more on how the Tar Heels will look in 2017-18, check out North Carolina's returning players and incoming recruits and ESPN RecruitingNation's class rankings.
3. Louisville Cardinals
Louisville's atypically short stay in the 2017 postseason -- from its one-and-out loss to Duke in the ACC tournament to the second-round NCAA tournament defeat it took to uber-hot Michigan -- shouldn't obscure just how good the Cardinals were throughout the season or how good they will be again next season. Already an elite defensive team, coach Rick Pitino's group will slot in three top-100 talents ready to contribute on both ends next season, while maintaining almost all of the preexisting group. Mangok Mathiang is the only significant senior leaving, while star guard Donovan Mitchell looks to be the most likely potential departure, assuming Deng Adel comes back to campus after testing the NBA draft waters. (Both could ultimately return.) The pieces for another ACC title chase, and a much deeper postseason stay -- led by one of the best tactical minds in the game, mind you -- are very much in place.
For more on how the Cardinals will look in 2017-18, check out Louisville's returning players and incoming recruits and ESPN RecruitingNation's class rankings.
College hoops' royalty leads Way-Too-Early Top 25 for 2017-18
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Eamonn BrennanESPN Staff Writer
Only 79 teams have cut down the nets at an NCAA tournament, and now this North Carolina team is one of them. How do the Tar Heels stack up to their predecessors?
This has always been the case, but never more than now. A year ago, the NCAA replaced a draconian draft deadline policy with a vastly more forgiving framework, one that allows players to declare, go through the combine, receive feedback and, provided they don't hire an agent, withdraw by May 24 and return to school, eligibility intact.
In the coming weeks, plenty will do just that. Plenty will leave. Others will transfer schools. Meanwhile, the remaining blue-chip recruits in the 2017 class -- including four of the ESPN 100's top 10, and six of the top 19 -- will announce where they'll play their ball next season. The point is, things could look drastically different by June. For now, though, here's our best guess -- our best, educated, way-way-way-too-early guess -- at how things might look come fall.
So, about those educated guesses.
A year ago, Duke's supremacy was a no-brainer bet: the best team in the country, a national-title favorite, a roster for the ages. Last April's Way-Too-Early No. 1 turned out to be none of those things, of course, proving for the 812,439th time that there are no sure things in college hoops -- especially seven months before the start of practice. The maxim feels especially true this time around. At least for the moment, finding next season's clear prospective No. 1 team feels much more difficult, if not outright impossible, or at least much more open to interpretation.
So, hey, let's go with ...
1. Kentucky Wildcats
You know the drill here: Coach John Calipari is presumably sending a bunch of talented dudes to the NBA (De'Aaron Fox, Malik Monk, Bam Adebayo) and replacing them with another bunch of talented dudes (five ESPN 100 prospects in ESPN's No. 1-ranked 2017 recruiting class, plus redshirt freshman Hamidou Diallo) hoping to join their pro-bound predecessors forthwith. Whether those newcomers have the same star power as the players they're replacing is up for debate, but if guard Isaiah Briscoe returns for another season and Wenyen Gabriel and Isaac Humphries ably take on bigger roles in the frontcourt, there's no reason Calipari can't mold up another national-title contender in the next 10 or so months. Broadly speaking, almost every top team will have a ton of turnover in 2017-18; why not settle on the one that thrives on turnover every spring?
For more on how the Wildcats will look in 2017-18, check out Kentucky's returning players and incoming recruits and ESPN RecruitingNation's class rankings.
2. North Carolina Tar Heels
After back-to-back Final Fours, the Tar Heels aren't going anywhere. Yes, they will lose key seniors yet again: Kennedy Meeks and Isaiah Hicks in the frontcourt; Nate Britt in the backcourt; plus ACC Player of the Year Justin Jackson, who seems all but guaranteed to turn pro after his junior season. But star guard Joel Berry II could return for a fourth year, as could forward Tony Bradley, and that's a big deal in and of itself. Bradley came off the bench as a freshman; he already is one of the best offensive rebounders in the country, and he might be a first-round pick, if he declares. Meanwhile, five-star shooting guard Jalek Felton will join a deep group already comprising a raft of ready talents. (Even Luke Maye, the "unlikely" hero of UNC's Elite Eight win over Kentucky, had proved his scoring chops all season.) There are a lot of ifs here and a lot of pieces to replace, but coach Roy Williams had a lot to replace after last year's Final Four too, and you saw how that worked out.
For more on how the Tar Heels will look in 2017-18, check out North Carolina's returning players and incoming recruits and ESPN RecruitingNation's class rankings.
3. Louisville Cardinals
Louisville's atypically short stay in the 2017 postseason -- from its one-and-out loss to Duke in the ACC tournament to the second-round NCAA tournament defeat it took to uber-hot Michigan -- shouldn't obscure just how good the Cardinals were throughout the season or how good they will be again next season. Already an elite defensive team, coach Rick Pitino's group will slot in three top-100 talents ready to contribute on both ends next season, while maintaining almost all of the preexisting group. Mangok Mathiang is the only significant senior leaving, while star guard Donovan Mitchell looks to be the most likely potential departure, assuming Deng Adel comes back to campus after testing the NBA draft waters. (Both could ultimately return.) The pieces for another ACC title chase, and a much deeper postseason stay -- led by one of the best tactical minds in the game, mind you -- are very much in place.
For more on how the Cardinals will look in 2017-18, check out Louisville's returning players and incoming recruits and ESPN RecruitingNation's class rankings.
